ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – The College of Saint Benedict hockey team is looking strong coming off a sweep of MIAC opponent St. Olaf this past weekend. Those wins put CSB at 9-8-1 overall with a conference record of 4-8.
 
The Bennies look to continue this win streak in a pair of games this weekend against MIAC rival St. Thomas. Puck drop is at 7:30 pm on Friday. Feb. 7 in St. Paul. On Saturday, the two teams play in Ritschie Arena in St. Cloud in a 2 p.m. game.
 
About the Tommies
St. Thomas has had a good season so far and is one of the top two teams in the MIAC. The Tommies have an overall record of 11-4-3 and a conference record of 10-2. Both the team's MIAC losses came to Gustavus – which is one of the top teams in Division III – in late January. The Tommes have had many games scoring four or more goals this season, and have 96 total goals in 2019-20. Rachel Werdin leads the team with 17 goals this season, Anna Soleheim has 12, and Allison Parnell is right behind her with 10. In net for the Tommies Eryn Cooley is leading the MIAC with a save percentage of .941 and is averaging 1.25 goals against per game. 
 
Last Meeting
These teams met last season in February, and the Tommies came away with a pair of wins – but Saint Benedict kept both games close. After losing 3-0 to start the series in St. Cloud, the Bennies came back and got within 2-1 of St. Thomas in a close MIAC loss. Courtney Conlin scored for the Bennies, and Kailee Medved had 34 saves in the one-goal loss.
 
Story Line
With only six games left in regular-season play. CSB is hoping to use its momentum from this past weekend to play two of the toughest teams they will in the next two weeks. This weekend the team takes on St. Thomas – one of the top teams in the MIAC – and then the Bennies take on No. 5 Gustavus. A win against either of these teams will help them to increase their standings in MIAC rankings going into playoffs.
 
Who to Watch
Mollie Wise is fifth in MIAC standings for most goals this season with 11, and is coming off a big weekend where she scored five goals between the two games.  Rylan Bistodeau is right behind her with eight goals so far and 13 of the team's other skaters also have at least one goal this season so far. In net Ally Frantzick played well last weekend putting her at a 180 saves and a .918 save percentage.